Critical Start Reveals Top 10 Capabilities to Consider When Selecting an MDR Provider

Top cybersecurity company unveils MDR capabilities that maximize cyber risk reduction

Plano, TX, April 25, 2023Critical Start, a leading provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) cybersecurity solutions, today published an essential guide to help enterprises scale up their cybersecurity program and more effectively reduce their cyber risk. The MDR market is experiencing unprecedented growth and is predicted to reach $4.6 billion by 2026. In a whitepaper titled, MDR Providers Decoded: A Comprehensive Guide to Evaluating the Top 10 Capabilities your Provider Needs, Critical Start offers an in-depth analysis of essential MDR service capabilities to reduce cybersecurity risk, assisting companies in navigating the expanding industry.

The average cost of a data breach was around $9.44 million in 2022, highlighting the potential impact of an ineffective security program. Implementing an MDR service with a security operations center has become the last line of defense against catastrophic breaches and has emerged as the centerpiece of organizations’ overall security strategy. As a result, according to Gartner®, “it’s estimated by 2025, 60% of organizations will be actively using remote threat disruption and containment capabilities delivered directly by MDR providers.”1

In its analysis, Critical Start identified three fundamental security questions that many organizations face, which led to a list of the 10 most critical requirements needed to maximize the value received from MDR vendors:

  1. How can I get the most effective detection and response solution per dollar invested to reduce my risk?
  2. How can I offload my security workloads while maintaining full operational command and visibility?
  3. How can I view my security maturity and confidently share measurable improvements with stakeholders?

“Security leaders grapple with these fundamental security challenges, which can significantly affect the efficacy of their security programs,” said Randy Watkins, Chief Technology Officer at Critical Start.  “While MDR services provide an essential layer of defense, not all services are created equal. That’s why Critical Start has compiled a concise and easy-to-digest analysis to help companies make informed decisions and choose the most effective MDR for their business.”

Based on Critical Start’s analysis, some of the key factors for companies to consider when selecting an MDR provider are:

  • One hour or less median time to resolution contractual SLA for every alert
  • Every alert actioned across multi-provider EDR, XDR and SIEM
  • Direct collaboration with professional SOC analysts
  • Full visibility and response actions via MobileSOC 24×7
  • Rules of engagement tailored to your environment
  • Provable metrics, peer benchmarking, shared customer learnings and best practices

The publication of the whitepaper is released in conjunction with Critical Start’s appearance at RSA Conference (South Hall, Booth #860) where the company will be sharing copies of the checklist with attendees.

The full whitepaper and other resources can be found here.

¹ Gartner. Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response Services, Pete Shoard, Al Price, Mitchell Schneider, Craig Lawson, Andrew Davies, 14 February 2023. https://www.criticalstart.com/resources/2023-gartner-market-guide-for-managed-detection-and-response-services/ GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 

About Critical Start
Today’s enterprise faces radical, ever-growing, and ever-sophisticated multi-vector cyber-attacks. Facing this situation is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Critical Start simplifies breach prevention by delivering the most effective managed detection and incident response services powered by the Zero-Trust Analytics Platform® (ZTAP®) with the industry’s only Trusted Behavior Registry™ (TBR) and MOBILESOC®. With 24x7x365 expert security analysts, and Cyber Research Unit (CRU), we monitor, investigate and remediate alerts swiftly and effectively, via contractual Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Time to Detection (TTD) and Median Time to Resolution (MTTR), and 100% transparency into our service. For more information, visit criticalstart.com. Follow Critical Start on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

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